Tea bag holder



F. C. REED TEA BAG HOLDER April 1, 1952 INVENTOR. CZ Reed ATTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 1, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to an article of manufacture comprising a holder supported by and within a tea cup or the like, and adapted to partition the interior of the cup to provide a tea bag compartment therein.

It is the common and accepted practice to drop a dry tea bag into the bottom of a cup and pour hot water into the cup, the tea bag being removed after passing of a sufficient time interval to accomplish brewing of the tea to the desired strength. The wet bag, after extraction from the cup, is placed in the saucer, and this causes drippings from the cup bottom and in general is a source of decided annoyance as well as presenting an untidy appearance.

One important object of the present invention is, accordingly, the provision of a tea bag holder specifically adapted for retention of a tea bag of ordinary size within a cup during the drinking of the contents of the cup, thus to eliminate the present practice of placing the wet tea bag in the saucer.

Another important object is to provide a tea bag holder as described that will be specifically proportioned as to length as to extend almost the full depth of the cup, so as to provide a partition for the purposes set forth above that will fully enclose the tea. bag without crumpling, bending or cramming of the bag in its allotted space.

Still another object is to provide a tea bag holder which will accomplish the expected results while still being capable of manufacture at low cost, durable, and attractive in appearance.

Still another object is the provision of a tea bag holder of the type stated that is so proportioned that when hung upon the wall of a cup, it will define in cooperation therewith side openings for said bag compartment which side openings will be in the path of currents caused by stirring of the liquid within the cup, thus to cause said currents to pass through the bag supported within the compartment and aid materially in the rapid brewing of the tea.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts, hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claim, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawings Figure l is a perspective view of one forni of holder supported by and within a cup, 2. portion of the cup being broken away, the holder sup porting a tea bag within the cup.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken substantially on line II--II of Figure 1, the tea bag not being shown.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the holder detached from the cup.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 and showing a second form of holder.

Figure 5 is an inverted perspective view of a third form of holder.

Referring to the drawings in detail, I have illustrated a conventional tea cup C and tea bag B, the holder constituting the present invention being designed to be hung upon the wall of a conventional cup such as that shown.

The holder which I have devised is preferably of integral formation and can be formed from any suitable material, such as plastic, paper board, metal, or glass, to state some examples. Regardless of the material from which it is made, the holder is of bowed cross-sectional configuration from top to bottom thereof, that is, it is bowed or arched away from the wall of the cup on which it is hung, so as to define in cooperation with the cup wall a deep compartment in which a tea bag B can be loosely supported, this compartment being of a cross-sectional contour corresponding roughly to that of the tea bag itself.

To this end, the holder illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 inclusive is formed with a center portion or body I here shown as being of flat or plane formation, although it could as well be arcuate or angular in form without departure from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Integral with the body I and extending from the opposite side edges of the body toward the wall of the cup C are like side wings. Again, it should be noted that although these wings are here illustrated as fiat, they too might be of arouate or angular configuration.

One side wing will be described in full detail, and this includes a wide upper portion 2 having integrally formed on its top edge a lip or tab 3 that provides means for gripping the holder for the purpose of hanging it upon or detaching it from the wall of the cup.

Formed in the wide upper portion 2 of the wing is a slot 4 opening upwardly into said upper portion and providing means for supporting the holder upon the wall of a cup C.

Thus, it may be stated that the opposite wings or side portions of the holder extend across the wall of the cup and engage said wall by reason of the means stated, for the purpose of detachably mounting the device upon said wall.

Below the wide upper portion 2 of the wing, the Wing is formed with a relatively narrowed middle part 5 which in turn merges into a slightly wider lower end portion 6.

The opposite wing of the holder is generally designated 1 and is formed identically to the wing described immediately above, though of course being an opposite to said first wing.

By reason of the narrowing of the middle parts of the wings, there will be defined, when the holder is supported upon a cup, elongated narrow side openings 8 at opposite sides of the holder and extending a substantial part of the length of the holder. These openings serve a desirable purpose, in that they permit free movement transversely of the holder (and thus directly through a tea bag supported within the holder) of the whirling or rotating current of liquid present in the cup upon stirring of the cup contents.

It is also characteristic of the construction that the bottom of the holder is open to further facilitate brewing of the tea, and of additional importance is the fact that the holder extends a substantial distance from top to bottom of the cup, and in fact extends through almost the full depth of the cup. At the same time, the holder may be noted as being of substantial width from side to side thereof, for the purpose of permitting a tea bag of regular shape and size to be fitted loosely within the holder. Yet, despite these characteristics of the holder, it does not interfere with drinking of the tea, and in fact, it is intended specifically that the holder be left in the cup during the consumption of the contents of the cup, so as to eliminate the necessity of placing the wet tea bag in the saucer.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figure 4, the holder is identical to the holder described above, as to the general configuration thereof, being formed integrally with the center portion 9, side wings l9, gripping tabs, and slots for mounting of the holder upon the cup. However, in this form of the invention, passage of the liquid within the cup into the separate compartment defined by the holder is facilitated even further by the provision of a substantial number of perforations H disposed over the full area of the center portion I and wings H. Apart from this foraminous characteristic of the modified form of Figure 4, there is no difierence between said modified form and the first form.

In Figure 5 is illustrated a holder which is also like the first form of the invention in that it has a center portion 12 corresponding in size and shape to the center portion I of the first form, and side wings 13 corresponding closely to the side wings of the first form with the exception that they are not provided with the tabs 3 or with the slots 4. Otherwise they are substantially the same, each having a wide upper portion, narrowed middle portion defining a side opening for the circulation of liquid through the bag compartment, and a slightly wider bottom end portion.

In the form of Figure 5, however, a different means for mounting of the holder upon a cup is provided, and to this end, there is formed integral with the upper ends of the wings 13 a horizontal strip 14 adapted to lie in contact with the top edge of the cup wall when the holder is positioned upon the cup, said strip being either of angular formation or being curved to conform to the curvature of said top edge of the cup, as shown.

Integral with the center portion of the strip 14 is a depending tongue 15 that extends downwardly along the outer surface of the wall of the cup. In this way, the holder is effectively supported upon the cup wall in the same position as the two first described forms are supported. In the holder shown in Figure 5, it may be noted, the provision of the arcuate strip l4 spaced from the top edges of the wings and center portion of the holder defines an opening it of substantial size through which the tea bag may be inserted.

In all the illustrated examples, the holder is shown as having angularly related wings extending from a center portion of fiat formation, said wings also being fiat. However, I believe it is sufficiently obvious as not to require special illustration that the center portion and wings may all be of arcuate shape, and may in fact be struck upon a common radius, as long as the holder is bowed outwardly from the cup a sufiicient distance to accommodate a tea bag in the manner illustrated, and as long as the holder is of sufficient depth to extend a substantial distance downwardly into the cup to permit the tea bag to also extend downwardly into the cup for the full length of the bag.

I claim:

A bottomless holder for a tea bag comprising a single sheet of material shaped to provide an elongated rigid central body portion, a pair of rigid wings extending therefrom and forming angles greater than acute angles therewith, each wing having a wide upper portion provided with a lower edge, a relatively narrow middle part, having a longitudinally-extending edge, a lower end portion appreciably narrower than the upper portion and wider than the middle part, a tab extending outwardly from the upper end of said upper portion, and a cup edge-accommodating slot in said upper portion, said slot extending upwardly from and opening into said lower edge and extending upwardly toward said tab with the end of the slot adjacent said tab, the width of said slot, throughout the length Of said slot, being appreciably greater than the thickness of the wall of a teacup at the upper edge portion of said wall when said holder is mounted upon said wall and a part of said wall is within said slot, and the longitudinal axis of said slot forming an acute angle with the longitudinal axis of said central body portion, whereby said holder is mounted upon a teacup wall with portion of said wall within said slots and extending to the inner ends of the slots, the lower portions of said wings resting upon the inner face of said wall and said longitudinally-extending edges of said middle part spaced from said inner face, to provide spaces, and said holder is rocked by moving said tabs, said central body portion will move away from said inner face and the width of said spaces will increase.

FRANK C. REED.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 898,713 Wilson Sept, 15, 1908 1,000,326 Crofford Aug. 8, 1911 1,113,859 Zeunert Oct. 13, 1914 1,269,902 Butler June 18, 1918 1,652,935 Goldfield Dec. 13, 1927 1,748,297 Matson Feb. 25, 1930 2,323,468 Hevers July 6, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 9,215 Great Britain of 1910 19,618 Great Britain 1913 23,479 Great Britain of 1894 89,801 Switzerland Sept. 15, 1908 800,089 France Apr. 20, 1936 

